NPR's Neal Conan reads from listener comments about past segments on the topics of banning high school football and shoplifting.

NEAL CONAN, HOST:

It's Tuesday, and time to read from your comments. Last Wednesday, we discussed the dangers and benefits of high school football. Walt in Bakersfield, California, wrote to say: I learned teamwork, perseverance, and sacrifice of personal goals for larger good through football. At work, the word "coachability" is applied to people who will listen with humility and attentiveness. Other sports are more individualistically oriented. Please, consider these losses before you drop football.

Marissa in Rockford, Illinois, wrote: Not only is head injury a concern for high school players, the conditions in which they train and practice are a worry as well. During the summer, players can be trained in very high heat with infrequent water breaks. Teams are fainting and having complications. We ask too much from these players. It's not right.

Last Thursday, we talked about what happens when shoplifters get caught. John in Marysville, Ohio, wrote: I operate a court-ordered shoplifting program every Saturday, in Columbus. I am amazed at the callers. They vary in the reason why they shoplift. But most verbalize intense emotions such as depression, anxiety, drugs and excitement. Some break my heart. Others are cited wrongfully due to an energetic loss-prevention officer at the stores. Shoplifting is not just as - perception of stealing and often, is deeper than its ideology.

Christopher wrote us: In college, I went with my roommate to Wal-Mart, where I watched him shoplift an air rifle. He took the bar code off a tennis racket, put it on the gun, and went through the checkout. He paid only $8 for it, and even had his receipt checked at the door.

Sara in St. Louis, wrote to say: I got busted shoplifting a music CD as a teen, and got off with little consequence. Later in college, I was using straight razor blades to slice sensors that were stuck on CD covers so they wouldn't activate the alarm. As I walked out the door of Circuit City, I absentmindedly dropped the razor in my purse; and was digging around in it one day, only to almost slice my finger off. At that point, the light bulb clicked, and I have not stolen since.

If you have a correction, comment or question for us, the best way to reach us is by email. The address: talk@npr.org. Please, let us know where you're writing from, and give us some help on how to pronounce your name. And if you're on Twitter, you can follow us there, @totn.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.